Rescue
by Bem3373
Summary: Alice has been taken by Magua as a wife. Uncas chases after them to save her, but something happens to him. Will Alice be saved? Will Uncas be okay? What will happen to Alice? Read and Review to find out! Rated T, might be changed due to mature circumstances.
1. Taken

Recovery

By: Bem3373

**Uncas/Alice based story. Starts from Alice being led away from the camp by Magua. Very different from the movie! This will be more hurt/comfort oriented, but there will be some action, and some good old romance as well. :) Also, this first chapter will be rather short since I'd like to get a feel for how you guys will react to it, so please comment and I'll continue! Enjoy and please comment! **

**PS: The lines will usually represent a different viewpoint!**

* * *

Alice rubs her recently freed wrists as she's led away from the camp, left to wonder if her sister will burn at the stake.

Magua and his men lead her, but Alice doesn't know where. Confused and overwhelmed by emotions, Alice allows the savages to drag her by her arm down the cliff.

She can vaguely hear screams, but it's difficult to tell if they sound feminine, like her sister. A few stray tears fall down her face at the thought of the painful death. Alice can't imagine that Cora's Nathaniel would allow such a thing. A soft smile lands on her lips as Alice imagines the daring and heroic rescue that he would no doubt accomplish, thus saving the day.

This thought leads to Alice wondering if anyone will come for her. Cora, if alive, would of course fight to save her, but Alice isn't sure if Nathaniel or Chingachgook would allow this, seeing as how dangerous it would be.

But then there's Uncas. She had shared so little time with him, yet she can still feel him staring at her across the waterfall, holding her when she got too close to the edge. She had never been held like that, and it confused her. He is, after all, a savage, and she is British.

In fact, in Britain, she was considered to be an excellent character of lady-like behavior and propriety, since she shared none of the masculine urges that Cora always seemed to have. She wonders if Uncas feels the same pull on his heart that Alice feels when she looks at him. She wonders if he would even bother to find her.

Lost in her thoughts, Alice does not fight when the threatening man pulling her ties her wrists together with twine and picks up his pace to an almost run for her.

* * *

About a half a mile away, Uncas trails the men.

He silently follows the group, leaving no trail in case he is in turn being followed. Uncas sprints up the cliff, and always keeps the party within his eyesight. He worries about her treatment, especially when she reaches Magua's camp.

Uncas can't help but relive all of the moments that they shared, and wonders if she too often thinks about their time. Their subtle romance, and maybe even love still lays heavily on Uncas, and he runs faster at the thought of Alice.

Pulling on trees, and sliding on rocks, Uncas moves like the wind is carrying him, and is able to notice the flaws in the fast-paced group. Planning his attack, Uncas doesn't notice how the rock on the cliff has gotten loose, and his foot lands on such a rock. Sliding down, Uncas being a long fall down the cliff, until everything goes dark.

* * *

Alice screams as she sees a body topple down the cliff.

She doesn't know what caused her to look to that area at that time, but she knows in her heart who it is. The moving party stops and spins around to view their surroundings, trying to identify what caused her outburst.

It's Magua who first notices the body on the ground. Speaking in quick French, he says "Regardez! Votre garcon stupide! Nous partons maintenant!" **(Look! Your stupid boy! We leave now!= I'm in French class at school so it's not perfect. If you can correct me please do so that I can change it in the story!)** Alice is unsure of the meaning, but she can understand the message.

The tribe leaves in a sprint, will Alice being dragged to keep up. No one notices the many tears falling from her eyes, blinding her during her run.

...

Four days pass.

Four days of being forced to run for hours, with barely any water or food. When she is at a point of collapsing, day ends, and the group throws her down onto the hard ground, tying her bloodied wrists to a tree.

If she's lucky, a savage might share some water with her, but it doesn't happen often.

Alice sleeps dreamless nights, and wakes up tired each morning. On the end of the forth day, the party approaches a group of wigwams, but only a few people since it is night.

No one looks into her eyes, but instead all touch her hair or clothes in wonder, like an object. Alice is thankful for this detachment, as it allows her to fall into her thoughts some more, as her thoughts are her only escape from hell.

After speaking to some people, Magua grips her arm and leads her to a wigwam, throws her inside, and follows. Looking around, the house-like structure is bare except for a few animal hides, fashioned into a bed.

Magua settles onto the bed quite comfortably, and looks at Alice, expecting her to join him. "NO." She says, knowing that the word is French as well as English. He grows irritated, but calms his features and pats the space next to him, hoping to be more inviting. Again, Alice declares "NO."

This sparks Magua's fury, and a back-handed slap to her face. Her mouth tastes of blood, and he tightens the bonds around her horribly bruised and bloody wrists, and he ties them to an unseen black cauldron in the back of the room. It's obviously European, which confuses Alice. Finding that she cannot move as the cauldron is so heavy that it can only be dragged, she lays down beside it, distancing herself away from the man, and attempts to fall asleep.

Sleep never comes.

**DUHDUHDUHHHH Is Uncas dead? Will he return and rescue Alice? What does Magua want with Alice? Will she escape? Please review for me to continue the story!**


	2. Alone In Hell

Rescue

Chapter 2: Alone In Hell

**Thanks to both Genevive and DearestAmy who left very encouraging reviews! I hope you like this chapter! Please read and review!**

**Warning: Mature themes in this chapter**

Two nights later, Alice has still yet to find solace in sleep.

Kept in the small house all day, it's a wonder that she doesn't pass out from boredom.

Sure, her eyes will close every now and then, and she will wake up time later, but Alice never awakens rested.

If she had a mirror, she's sure that it would be a horrific sight.

Alice sighs as she peers down onto her injured wrists. They get worse everyday, and now are just scabs that keep on getting peeled off and reopened due to the twine that's tightly wrapped around them.

She is also still attached to the European metal pot, and on closer inspection, Alice notices a letter welded into it. The letter seems to be an "L" but without proper lighting, it's nearly impossible for Alice to tell.

The wigwam only lets in a few rays of light, and so only at mid-day is Alice sure that it's sunny outside.

After 6 days of nothing but silence, Alice has begun to lose hope of any rescue. Depressed, she allows herself to begin mourning for her sister, sure that she has past in the Indian's fire.

Alice also begins to doubt her memories of Uncas. She wonders if she imagined the way he looked at her, and the way he held onto her. Maybe she has just let her feelings run away with her mind.

All of these thoughts are disturbed only twice a day, when an elderly woman with a wrinkled tan face will bring in a plate of what is usually mush that tastes like corn, and a small bowl of water.

After Alice eats, the elderly woman silently picks up the plate and bowl and leaves Alice again.

Despite getting used to this woman entering the room each day, Alice still shivers every time the small hatch is pushed aside, afraid that it is Magua, come to lay with her.

This very thought absolutely frightens the pale girl. In Britain, a lady only lays with her husband. Anything else is whorish and cause for a society banishment.

Alice herself has given little thought to the night of her wedding, seeing as her mother told her little about the task, saying that it was only a woman's job to please her husband.

The small sunbeam shining in through a small hole in the roof disappears, and Alice finds herself yawning, a very unladylike behavior. Alice lays back onto the hides strewn across the floor, and once again her eyes close, awaiting her to wake up as tired as ever.

...

**AN: Please skip if you feel that you don't wish to read this next section, which contains mature themes. There is nothing graphic, but it may be disturbing to some. **

It's three days later when Magua returns to her wigwam.

Alice is staring at the disappearing sunbeam when the hatch is pushed away. Alice turns, expecting the woman, but is instead greeted by a nearly-naked savage, who walks into the room.

Striding towards Alice, he pulls out a large knife, and she closes her eyes, afraid for the worst.

Instead, he shears off her wrist binds, and then returns his knife to it's place. Alice rubs her wrist, and is aware of how wonderful it feels to be free from the twine, but also how she wishes that he would just tie her up again and leave her alone.

Laying down onto the bed of hides, he pats the space next to him. Shaking at the memories of his past visit, Alice backs up as far as she can away from the man. He frowns, and his dark brown eyes flash menacingly. Standing up faster then she has ever seen anyone move, he grabs her by the arms and shoves her onto the bed.

Alice closes her eyes and begins to repeat nursery rhymes in her head, blocking out the external actions.

...

Alice lays alone.

Magua has left hours ago, and the woman had brought water and food, but Alice doesn't look at her.

Alice lays on a hide as far away from the bed as possible, and silently cries endlessly.

Closing her eyes, Alice tries to think of happy memories of her and Cora in England, but everything is thwarted by Magua.

Her face is bloody and bruised, and so is her body. Once Magua got what he wanted, he beat her, and then left.

The pain feels dull against her beating heart, which is the only thing keeping her rooted to the ground.

Alice lays alone.

**Ahhhh please don't kill me. I know it was horrible. Buttttt I think that it was necessary. After all, Magua is an evil character, is he not? Uncas may or may not return the next chapter, which will be longer than this. I know that this chapter was horribly short, but I wanted to keep this chapter separate from the next one, so that this scene can really sink in and be as intense as I feel that it is. Again, please read and review! Any constructive criticism is always welcome! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Lost In The Ashes

Rescue

Chapter 3- Lost In The Ashes

**Thanks for not killing me for that last chapter. Now, we can get to the good stuff. :)**

Pain.

Shooting pain running up and down his legs.

That is what Uncas awakens to.

* * *

Alice looks up to the stars and tries not to blink, worried that if she does, their beauty will disappear.

The sky, which she hasn't seen for countless days, provides a comfort that Alice had forgotten about.

The past few days, Magua had disappeared, and for that, Alice was grateful. Her face and body still had the markings from that night, and Alice hoped they would stay forever to remind her of her hatred.

Hatred. The feeling was an odd one.

Alice was a peaceful creature from nature. In England, even the worst women who gossiped and spread nasty rumors, did not earn Alice's hate. Despite the fact that the one they loved to gossip about most was Alice.

However, the feeling was definite. Never before had Alice had the desire to kill, or injure someone. Now, Alice knew that if she had the chance, she would slit Magua's throat.

Alice continues to look up lazily at the sky. The old woman, who she had heard someone call Awanata had brought her out here while the woman pulled out the hides that were laying on the ground of the hut. Alice assumed she was going to clean them.

Thankful for Awanata's action, Alice lays on the dewy grass next to the wigwam, and can hear the woman inside.

Sitting up, Alice looks around at her surroundings. The camp is completely circled by forest. As Alice begins to think about making a run for it, a sound pulls her out of her thoughts.

The sound, which vaguely resembles a high pitched squeal, seems to be cheering from the front of the camp. A group begins walking from the camp front to the fire that sits in the center, near where Alice is laying.

Leading the group, is Magua carrying a dead deer on his shoulders. He hauls the deer onto the ground, and then looks around. Spotting Alice, his eyes narrow and he begins to stalk towards her.

Alice quickly stands up and runs towards the nearby forest, terrified. Magua sprints after her, and catches her before she can even pass the first tree. Throwing her to the ground, Alice rolls on the gravel, destroying whatever was left of her once-fine dress.

Before Alice can get back up, Magua is there, standing over her. He grabs her legs and tears off her shoes, throwing them into the forest, and then picks her up and throws her over his back, just like he carried the deer.

Reaching the wigwam, the woman comes out with fear in her eyes. Spitting out his foreign language at her, Magua pushes her aside, and takes Alice inside. After tying her hands back to the cauldron, he exits the hut.

The screams of the old woman keep Alice up all night.

* * *

Uncas awakens again and forces himself into a sitting position. Looking around, he finds himself at the bottom of a mountain, and the memories of his fall flood back to him.

Then, Uncas remembers Alice. Looking down at his legs, Uncas notices that nothing seems to be broken. Offering up a prayer to the Creator, Uncas stands up with great difficulty. Deciding that he must make up for lost time, he begins to climb the mountain, rather than walk up the other side.

...

At the top of the trail, Uncas can see a very faint marking of where the group used to be. A broken branch here, and a footprint here prove that Uncas is following the group, but also that the group was traveling fast.

Sprinting towards the camp, Uncas can't help but think of what could have happened to Alice. The very thought of Magua or any other man putting his hands on her makes Uncas furious. With each though, Uncas pushes himself to run faster.

* * *

At dawn, Alice is awakened by Magua grabbing her hair and pulling her to her feet. Dragging her outside of the wigwam, Alice screams, but the man only tightens his grip.

This continues until they reach the center of the camp, where two wooden poles stand. Roped to the first pole, is Awanata. Her body lays limp against the wood, and blood pools at her feet. The woman is dead.

Alice begins to struggle against Magua. "Please, no. NO!" She cries as she too is tied to a wooden pole.

Magua spins her around to face the pole, and then takes his knife and slices the back of her dress, exposing her bruised back.

Alice cries harder, and then feels exploding pain on her back. She screams as the long strip of leather hits her flesh and opens fresh wounds with each attack.

This lasts for an hour.

At the end of it, Magua spits on her, and leaves her tied to the post. The searing heat begins to burn, and Alice remembers that she hasn't eaten or drunk since last night.

Late into the night, her body still hangs there.

* * *

Uncas circles the camp, silently prowling, looking for any weaknesses.

Five men keep watch around the perimeter, but there seem to be no men past them.

Uncas creeps behind the trees, and spots the area that no men are watching.

Uncas slowly sneaks forward.

* * *

Alice slowly opens her eyes, and finds that it is the dead of night. The bitter cold seeps into the her bones, but her hands are tied above her, not allowing her to cover herself.

Her shoulders and wrists hurt due to the tension of the rope, but Alice's back is excruciating.

Alice hears a snap of a twig and instantly becomes defensive, searching around the pitch darkness for any savage.

Panicked, Alice begins to breath heavily, until her eyes adjust to the darkness a few seconds later.

"Uncas?"

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Romance galore will be coming up shortly! As always, your reviews make me write faster and inspire me, so please review! Thanks!**


	4. The Aftermath

_**Can I just say, that you guys are awesome? I had completely given up on this story. It wasn't long enough, written well enough, or elaborate enough. However, a certain private message really sparked something inside me to continue with the story. I just want to thank MohawkWoman for being so helpful and positive. I also want to thank everyone who reviewed the story, without you, I would have never written any more. I'm sorry about giving up, and thanks for sticking with the story. **_

Flashes of green and brown.

Uncas runs so fast while carrying her body, that Alice can't focus on any single tree. This is only made worse by the tears that stream down her face.

Alice fights to stay conscious, but ultimately loses the battle.

Uncas continues to run.

* * *

"AHHH!"

Alice awakens with a jump, her own scream scaring her. Uncas rushes to her side, and places a cool hand on the back of her head, leading her to lay back down.

Looking around, she can see that she's still in the god forsaken forest, but now she's laid on a bed of moss and leaves. Her dress has been peeled off of her bleeding skin, and lays damp on a tree limb. All that covers Alice's naked body is a thin cotton shirt.

Uncas looks down at her, and begins to hum quietly. The soothing noise seems foreign coming from such a hardened warrior.

Alice allows herself to close her eyes and fall back into a restless slumber, as Uncas gets up and forages for berries and water.

* * *

Uncas stays close to the sleeping girl, for fear that she will awaken alone. Unfortunately, this means that all Uncas can find are a few handfuls of berries and dirty creek water.

When the sun begin to rise, Uncas notices that Alice's dress is now dry, after he had washed it in the nearby creek. He examines the back and sees that the blood has stained the tan dress, and there are long slashes where she was beaten.

Unable to think about her pain anymore, Uncas turns away to forage for firewood when Alice awakens again.

She silently sits up, and looks around at her surroundings. Once her eyes meet Uncas', they stay put.

"What hap" "Shhh" Uncas cuts her off, and thrusts the canteen of water towards her. "Drink, you're dehydrated". Alice obeys quietly, before noticing once again her close-to-naked body.

"Where is my dress?" Uncas motions his head towards the tree limb, and stands before bringing the dress to her. "I need to dress your wounds before you get dressed".

Uncas works quickly and without emotion, taking ointment made from ground leaves and rubbing it onto her wrists, ankles, back, and other miscellaneous wounds. He doesn't dare go far up her legs, for fear of seeing what he knows is there.

Once he has completed his task, he turns and allows her to dress herself. She hands him his shirt back, and Uncas gives her the berries before commanding her to "Eat". As always, Alice obeys.

* * *

Once the berries are gone, Uncas helps Alice to stand, and picks her up. "Where are we going?" Asks Alice. Uncas merely grunts before saying "We can't travel during the day. We're going to a better hiding place to stay until the sun sets."

"Oh." is all she replies.

They walk for a few minutes before coming up to a very dense part of the forest. Sliding between trees proves difficult while carrying the woman, but Uncas makes do.

They finally reach an area large enough for Alice to lay down, but surrounded by trees and bushes so they can't be seen.

Alice sits on the grass, and Uncas continues to stand, fiddling with the surrounding trees.

"Uncas, why won't you look at me?"

He looks down and grunts.

"Uncas."

Again, he doesn't reply. He doesn't know how. All his life, he had been by himself. He had never had to protect anyone, his brother and father took care of themselves. He was unsure of his natural protectiveness towards the small woman.

Alice gives up on trying to communicate with him. They stay there in silence for close to an hour before Uncas declares "I'm going to look for food. Stay here. Don't make any noise. If someone comes, run."

Alice nods, and Uncas squeezes through the trees and disappears.

* * *

An hour later, Uncas appears with a satchel full of berries, mushrooms, and leaves. He lays the bag down in front of her, and they both eat until the food is gone, but they're still not satisfied.

"Could you not find any game?" She innocently asks. "We can't start a fire to cook anything. It would lead the war party straight to us."

Alice looks down at her feet, feeling stupid for asking the question. She always seemed to ask the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Uncas sits down across from her, and forces himself to meet her gaze. He opens his mouth, but struggles to find the words to say. Alice surprises him by shaking her head, and reaching her hand out towards him.

He takes it, and she slowly pulls him towards her. Uncas lays down beside her and Alice rests her head on his outstretched arm. His other arm wraps around her tiny waist, pulling them together.

Uncas cannot take the silence anymore, and asks the forbidden question. "Did they… did they, hurt, you?"

Alice's eyes shoot up towards his, and then quickly fall down to his chest before she begins to shake and sob.

Uncas' eyes glisten, as he presses the woman against his chest and gently rocks back and forth, trying to make things better.

They both know that nothing can make things better.

_**Yeah, it's depressing. But… it had to happen sooner or later. I know it's super short but I'm a little lacking on inspiration right now, so be patient please! I also couldn't resist adding in the Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman quote "Did they hurt you". It just seemed to fit so well! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please please please review!**_


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